The Trade Union of Nigeria, TUC, has raised the alarm that the price of Premium Motor Spirit aka Petrol may climb to about N2,000 per litre if urgent measures are not taken to cushion the impact of rising global crude prices and the depreciating naira.

Speaking to newsmen on Thursday, April 9, the president of the TUC, Festus Osifo, called on the Federal Government to immediately deploy 60 percent of excess crude oil revenue above the 2026 budget benchmark to subsidise crude feedstock supplies to the Dangote Refinery and other modular refineries, a move it says will slash pump prices of petrol, diesel, and jet fuel within two weeks

“Today, comrades, we are seeing that the cost of petrol is edging towards N2,000 per litre depending on the part of the country that you are. Nigerian workers are already passing through excruciating pain as we speak.

The same way it is affecting transportation, it is also affecting manufacturing. The cost of diesel has also gone northward, meaning that the cost of production has increased. When production costs rise, the final price of goods on the shelves will also skyrocket.

If this continues unchecked, the inflation that we are currently celebrating as going downwards will reverse and start moving up again,” he stated.

Osifo outlined the proposal as an urgent intervention to cushion Nigerian workers from excruciating pain caused by petrol prices edging towards ₦2,000 per litre in some parts of the country

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, is set to get a vice president for the first time in his four-decade rule, following controversial constitutional changes backed by the parliament.

In a ‌joint session of the ruling party-dominated National Assembly and Senate, lawmakers voted 200 to 18 in favour, with four abstentions, to pass the bill.

The bill stipulates that the vice president will ​automatically assume the presidency if President Paul Biya dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated.

Biya, ​93, has led the Central African country since 1982 and is the world’s oldest serving head of state. Public discussion about ​his health is banned.

According to the legislation, a copy of which was seen by ​Reuters, the vice president will be appointed and dismissed by the president, serving for the remainder of the president’s seven-year term.

However, the interim leader would be prohibited from initiating constitutional changes or ​running in a subsequent election.

Prior to the amendment, the constitution designated the leader of the Senate to briefly take over in case the sitting president d!es or is incapacitated. An election would then be held.

The Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, which has six representatives in parliament, boycotted the vote. It had pushed for a revision in favour of the vice-president being jointly elected with the president, rather than appointed.

The party also sought a constitutional provision that reflects the linguistic split between English and French-speaking regions. The SDF wanted the nation’s top two posts to be shared between Cameroon’s two communities, which was the position before 1972.

“This constitutional reform could have been a moment of political courage, but it is nothing less than a missed historic opportunity,” SDF chairman Joshua Osih said.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has highlighted the ongoing challenges of tax collection, pointing out the disparity between citizens’ expectations and the reality of government revenue.

Speaking with TVC NEWS live, he stressed that while Nigerians expect quality infrastructure and services, there is widespread reluctance to contribute through taxes.

On the difficulty of generating revenue, Wike said: “To collect tax, you know it’s not an easy thing. I don’t know how many of you here like to pay tax. Nigerians want everything for free. They want road, they want light. It is not easy.”

He further stated; “When I came to Abuja we were about 8, 9 billion. The money we get from the federal government is 1% of the allocation of federal government. So if federal government gets 1 trillion for example, they’ll give us one percent which is ten billion naira and that cannot carry the society. Our salary in a month is not less than 12–13 billion, so we must augment. How do we augment?”

Addressing public criticism, he added: “There’s no ab¥se that any politician has received than me. I think after the president, I’m the highest ab¥sed. There’s nothing we do that we won’t get ab¥sed. Well, what is important to me is that I want to be concentrated to do the job.”

On oversight and accountability, Wike explained how closely he monitors the finances: “The money we have gotten from tax challenge me, minister FCT, what are you doing? I’ll show you as I sit here.”